I'm considering buying a 2012 Axis A20 but the nearest dealers are over 2 hours away. This will be my first boat and I have read and heard that boats require a lot of work. I have no problem driving several hours to go buy a boat but 5 hour round trips for maintence and repairs might suck the fun out of owning a boat. My question is, does one need to have maintence and warranty work done at an Axis dealer and if not is someone aware of a facility that can do the work in the Malibu to Long Beach area? I live in Los Angeles. Axis doesn't have a contact on their site so I am unable to question them about it and I'm sure the dealer will want me to have repairs done there. I'm also thinking of an MB F21 but I'll have the same problem with that boat. I did email MB but never heard back. Sorry if this is a dumb question. I just don't want to get into something that is going to cause more pain than pleasure... Thanks.

Dude, give chris a call at paradise marine. It is not that far. I used to live in long beach, and now live a little closer to them. Most of the time maintence will require you dropping off the boat, and yes that part sucks, but Brian in service is way cool and will take care of you.

My dealer is 40 minutes away and I try to avoid making that trip as much as possible. I can't imagine 2 hours one way, not to mention the fuel expense. I just hate the feeling of towing the boat anywhere but to the boat ramp to go ride. On these newer boats there really isn't much reason to get your boat "maintained" by a dealer unless you just don't have the time to do it yourself. When I got my boat in 2008, I purchased a $40 suction pump/tank and have changed all my own fluids from 20 hours on. The hardest part of it will be the impeller and spark plugs, if you consider that difficult. If you go A20, you'll be Indmar powered, so here is a link to that maintenance schedule. http://www.indmar.com/About/ContactI...Presentweb.pdf Page 53 has the scheduled maintenance chart so you can get a feel for where you'll think you will be on how much you use it vs. your potential trips to the dealer. Most of my warranty items have been little things like LED light gone out, seat skin replacement or something of that nature, so i'll just hold off till the end of the season to get those warranty items addressed all at once. Maintaining my boat has saved me alot of time and money, I would suggest it. If you need help, message me and i'll walk you thru it.

Chad, you will not have the issues you think you are going to have with a boat. New boats take a little while to get dialed. It's not like a car. I will have the guys at Paradise and MB give you call. You cannot go wrong with a Tomcat. I got mine from Paradise and I had one issue, they came to my house and fixed it and did a regular service at the same time. I sent you a message. We can get you a demo when you are ready.

Chris is no longer at paradise - Brian is still there. I have had my Axis a year and a half and have taken it in once (I live in OC). Its a hassle but am happy I went through paradise. You can't go wrong with paradise, Axis or MB.

We would love to help you at MB. Paradise is an amazing dealer for us with a loyal following. Please try there first. if you are unsatisfied, hit me up directly and we can help you out for sure. I won't give you a sales pitch or say anything negative about the other brands. Our products speak for themselves. I just got my 23' TWB on Saturday and it is AMAZING! I'll have photos and detail up in the next few days. You can pm directly and I will be happy to help you any way you need.

FWIW, the dealership that I bought my boat (an Axis) from is about 4 hours away. I had the exact same concern when I bought pur boat, and raised it to the dealership. They recommended a local dealership who sells Indmar to perform engine warranty work and routine maintenance if necessary, and said they would work with me on everything else. It's worked out very well. All of the warranty issues were very minor, and they took care of them at the end of last season when I had the boat in for the first service. There was an issue with the tach gauge that they just shipped me the part and I changed it out ... took all of 15 minutes.

I guess from my perspective, if a new boat is needing to be at the dealership for repairs so much that a 2 hour trip is a major inconvenience, I'd be very frustrated. However, the same would go for a 5 minute trip.

Its not a 2 hour trip. 2 to drop off 2 to return home 2 to pick up 2 to return home again that's 8 hours driving time. The selling dealer is one of the most important parts of the buying and owning of any boat. Nobody builds a bad boat. Buying from a dealer so far away is going to suck for you. Are they willing to meet you half way if it needs to come back for repair. Local dealers would be my first choice do you have any around you?

With a new boat I can understand this issue a bit more for being relatively close to a dealer. I have a 2000 MB. I live just outside Vancouver BC. The closest MB dealer is in Seattle which I only found out a while ago. I have never needed to take my boat in to a dealer. All fluid changes and spark plugs are done by myself. If I need to take my boat to a dealer there is a Tige dealer 20 minutes away. Again, I understand if it's new for break in or warranty issues but after that I don't really think it makes a difference. I would not hesitate to buy a newer MB again without local reps. Not everyone takes their Honda to a Honda dealer.

I agree with Dave on this. As stated above, I live 4 hours (one way) from the nearest Axis dealership. I have a local dealership that can service the mechanical components of my boat if necessary, and I've only had to take my boat back to the dealership once for (minor) warranty work and I had them winterize it at the same time. The dealership has been great at supporting me remotely, and because the trips back have been minimal, I'd buy another boat from them in a heartbeat.